Missed opportunity: Huskies fall 24-14 to Arizona State

As rain fell steadily onto the field at Husky Stadium, the Washington football team missed an opportunity to improve to 3-2 on the season and 2-0 in the Pac-10, falling to Arizona State 24-14 on Saturday night.

A week after upsetting USC, the Huskies returned home hoping to record their best five-game start to a season since 2003. Instead, UW was unable to overcome an inability to stop the Sun Devils on third down and limit big plays. ASU converted on 7 of its first 11 third-down conversion attempts and ripped off 11 plays of 15 yards or more en route to the win.

“I think it’s a missed opportunity,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “We really value playing at home and we like our chances to play at home, we just didn’t take advantage of that.”

After the defense was lauded for stepping up when it mattered against the Trojans, that same unit was unable to stop the Sun Devils on numerous drives in the first half. ASU converted four third downs of 8 yards or more in the first half, which helped stake the Sun Devils to a 21-7 halftime lead. That margin would end up being enough, as the Huskies offense, without Devin Aguilar who was out with a hip-pointer injury, stalled against the fast defensive unit of ASU.

“They really weren’t doing anything,” wide receiver Jordan Polk said. “It was really ourselves. Missed assignments, mental errors, you can’t have that in these types of games, in this type of atmosphere.”

Jake Locker, who was said to be feeling under the weather, was 23 for 38 passing, but most of his completions were for short yards. Locker averaged only 5.5 yards per pass attempt.

Locker was also shut down on the ground, as ASU easily read his option runs and stuffed him for little or no gain on his first four rushing attempts. Locker finished with just six yards rushing. As a whole, the offensive unit for Washington looked stale and our rhythm, save for Chris Polk. Polk rushed for 110 yards on 18 carries, but his efforts ended up being futile.

Arizona State got started early, after stalling on their first drive. The Sun Devils took the ball 90 yards on 14 plays, with Steven Threet connecting with Gerell Robinson on for a 4-yard touchdown. The Sun Devils set the tone for the night on that drive, connecting on all four of their third down attempts, including two from eight yards out.

“They had great calls on third down,” linebacker Mason Foster said.

Locker scored from two yards out on the Huskies next drive, which was set up by a 51-yard kickoff return by freshman Jesse Callier.

ASU scored again just before the end of the quarter when the Huskies could not stop another third-and-8. After Deantre Lewis took a screen pass 23 yards on third down, Threet kept it himself from a yard out to give the Sun Devils a lead they would not relinquish.

Arizona State ended up producing what turned out to be the winning touchdown with just 19 seconds left in the first half. After getting the ball at their own 35-yard line when Washington stalled on fourth down, ASU efficiently worked down the field against a defensive unit that looked like they were more concerned with stopping one giant play than allowing the Sun Devils to eat up yards. ASU ran plays that went for 8, 18, 13, 5, and 25 on the drive, with Mike Willie catching a 25-yard touchdown pass to give the Sun Devils a 21-7 halftime lead.

“You can’t give any touchdowns [at the end of the half], to a team like that,” Foster said.

The defense played much better in the second half, but the damage was already done on a day that the UW offense was not clicking. The Huskies got as close as 21-14 early in the fourth quarter, but ASU essentially controlled the clock the rest of the way, as Locker and the offense again fell out of rhythm.

“We have to execute early in the game, like we do late in the game,” safety Nate Williams said. “I think a lot of the guys came out a little overanxious and were just trying to do too much and that’s really been a problem for us all year.”

It was the seventh straight win for Arizona State over Washington. With an opportunity to end both that streak and to stay undefeated in the Pac-10, the Huskies simply fell short. But Sarkisian and his players expressed a feeling of optimism after the loss that the parity in the Pac-10 this year leaves the conference wide open.

“You don’t get everything done in this conference in one game,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve got another big one next week.”